1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to a seat cushion airbag device that suppresses a phenomenon where an object to be restrained on a seat section moves forward by inflating an airbag, which is disposed in a seat section of a vehicle seat, with an inflating fluid such as an inflating gas so that a seat surface is bulged out.
2. Background Art
There is a “vehicle seat air-conditioner” disclosed in, for example, Patent Document 1, as a technique that improves the comfort of an occupant seated in a vehicle seat. The vehicle seat air-conditioner is provided with a blower duct that includes an outlet provided below a seat cushion of a seat section, and ejects air-conditioning air (cold air, warm air, and the like), which flows in the blower duct, upward from the outlet. The air-conditioning air passes through the seat cushion and reaches an occupant, so that the occupant comfortably feels cool or warm.
Meanwhile, a phenomenon (submarine phenomenon) where the waist of an occupant, who is restrained in a vehicle seat by a seat belt device, comes out from a lap belt portion and moves forward (slides forward) when an impact is applied to a vehicle from the front by the front-end collision or the like becomes a problem in the vehicle. Accordingly, various measures are being taken or proposed for the suppression of the submarine phenomenon.
As one of the various measures, there is a seat cushion airbag device that is mountable to a vehicle seat including a seat section where a seat cushion is supported from below by a support section of a seat frame. The support section includes a spring member (wire frame part) that elastically supports the seat cushion from below, locking claws by which the spring member is caught, and the like.
In the seat cushion airbag device, an airbag in which an inflator (inflating fluid generation source) is built is disposed between the support section and the seat cushion (see Patent Documents 2 and 3). In general, the airbag is disposed while being deployed (without being folded). Further, the airbag is inflated with an inflating gas (inflating fluid) ejected from the inflator, so that a seat surface of the seat section is bulged out. Due to the bulge of the seat surface, a portion of a femoral region of the occupant near the back of a knee is pressed against the lap belt portion in the vertical direction. Accordingly, the restraining force of the lap belt portion is increased, so that the forward movement (forward slide) is restricted.    Patent Document 1: JP-A-11-48772    Patent Document 2: JP-A-2002-79861    Patent Document 3: JP-A-2005-306252